There’s a lot of talk about cloud computing and rich communications services (RCS) as they relate to the contact center. Through ease of access to remote computing, increased security, scalability and reliability of today's mature cloud-connected model allows organizations to dynamically provision and scale virtualized and shared resources. The same is true for large-scale businesses, like restaurants and hotels, only the way cloud models are used is just a little different.
In a restaurant environment, perhaps telecommunications is the last thing that comes to mind when you’re dealing with bar service, food items, hungry customers and wait staff. But break it down further, and communications is like a central nervous system for a busy night. Point of service transactions rely on quick and efficient connections to talk to merchant services to deliver a check rapidly to patrons. Cashing out patrons faster means getting new diners in the seat fast, which translates to a successful day.
In hospitality, cloud communications are a boon. Many hotel companies are driving their primary applications to the cloud where they can be centrally hosted and effectively managed and supported. Guest usage of the traditionally premise-based solutions has long been on the decline and properties have struggled to cover the overall costs of communications let alone generate revenues from the service. The downturn in the economy has forced hotels to look at all avenues of saving costs and the potential to save money through lower cost cloud solutions has spurred a rapid amount of activity with a number of hospitality-focused solution providers emerging to service the industry.
Even vacationers on the high seas need communications. Cruise ships are seeing demand for communications services caused by the use of smartphones, laptops and tablets as part of their vacation experience. But current cruise communications networks aren’t designed to meet these voracious demands for mobile connectivity. As it is, onboard communications on cruise ships traditionally poses a challenge. Going wireless over IP enhances guest experience, increases crew satisfaction and increases revenues.
Cloud and wireless communications are changing the way we can communicate and conduct business, and not just in the contact center. Large-scale operations like those in the hospitality industry can see tremendous benefit by ditching legacy systems and opting for newer, hosted ones.
Edited by Alisen Downey